Witches, like saints, are solitary stars that shine with a light of their own; they depend on nothing and no one, which is why they have no fear and plunge blindly into the abyss with the assurance that instead of crashing to earth, they will fly back out. They can change into birds and see the world from above, or worms to see it from within, they can inhabit other dimensions and travel to other galaxies, they are navigators on an infinite ocean of consciousness and cognition.

Isabel Allende, Paula

In-between places / Portals? Transportation
A serious young scholar and a warlock invested as much in the theoretical aspects of magic as in its practical applications, Jongsuk had aspirations since childhood of conducting research on ancient civilizations. His hopes were of becoming a leading figure in the field of restoring 'dead' forms of ancient magic, as Latin is to language. Jongsuk's parents, both reputable names in their respective fields, provided Jongsuk with access to all of the magical texts he desired, and with their connections and his reputation for making excellent grades, it was almost guaranteed that he would become an apprentice to only the finest witch or warlock who would further his understanding of the mystical. That was before he died.

Nowadays, the Lee family name can't carry the burden of the curse that befell Jongsuk. And, of course, the fact that he was secretly a part of a coven that didn't fit the prestige he was accustomed to in his youth does him no favors. All but disowned from the high society he grew up in and at odds with all of his parents' expectations, not quite a social pariah in the magical community but

Small pleasures make up a large portion of the life of a man who's half-dead on all but paper. He still has his old interests: mythology, history, literature and magical texts, ancient civilizations and ruins as well as old, dead forms of magic. He has his old vices, too: and anything that falls under the category of morbid fascination or which pertains to the strange and unusual.
Very studious and enjoys learning and reading, but does not give much credit to a formal education as he did not feel the need to attend university. Or, alternatively, he did graduate with a degree. Who knows?!?!
Doesn't like to reveal much of himself.
Likes to joke that he's an 'old soul who has lived many lives'. Also, uses humor as a defense mechanism.

The other morning, I heard a woman on the radio describe her art, enormous conceptual installations that involve manipulations of breath and light. As she was explaining her process, this artist used a phrase I'd never heard before: 'thin places.' It ... stems from an old proverb that says, "Heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller." In thin places, the folklore goes, the barrier between the physical world and the spiritual world wears thin and becomes porous. Invisible things, like music or love or dead people or God, might become visible there, or if they don't become visible they become so present and tangible that it doesn't matter. Distinctions between you and not-you, real and unreal, worldly and otherworldly, fall away.

IN HIS PAST LIFE, Lee Jongsuk wore Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."

The original thin places were wild landscapes because the idea was born in the heaths of Connemara, a place that's so austere and ancient, so full of twists and hiding places and divots a thousand years old, that it seems somehow likely you might poke a hole through to another reality. But the radio lady said that the delight of thin places was the unpredictability of their location. You can find them someplace with magic written all over it, like Connemara or the Himalayas, but they also pop up in dive bars, bedrooms, hospital rooms. They can appear and disappear.

"Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?"

He didn't die so much as he stopped living. He opened a door that shouldn't have been opened, and because of that he was ultimately changed. All magic comes with a price.